Self-contained voice amplification headgear

ABSTRACT

A self-contained voice amplification headgear is disclosed which includes a housing arranged to be secured around the head, hat or helmet of the user and around and on objects by an adjustable headband, or molded, adhered to or otherwise externally secured to the hat or helmet without their modification, a speaker is carried by the housing and a microphone arm carrying a microphone is pivotally connected to the housing and operable to swing the microphone to a downward position in front of the mouth of the user, and up away from the mouth of the user to an out-of-the-way position. Preferably, the speaker is facing in the same direction as the user is facing. An on-off switch is provided and is operable to connect an electrical power source to an amplifier circuit carried by the housing when the microphone arm is in the downward position and to disconnect them when in the out-of-theway position. An auxiliary on-off switch, volume control and connection for a recharger may be provided and carried by the housing.

United States Patent [191 Denhart 51 June 17, 1975 SELF-CONTAINED VOICEAMPLIFICATION HEADGEAR [22] Filed: Jan. 30, 1974 [21] Appl. No.: 437,990

[52] US. Cl 179/156 A; 179/1 MG [51] Int. Cl. H04m l/05 [58] Field ofSearch 179/156 R, 156 A Primary Examiner-William C. Cooper Attorney,Agent, or FirmJames F. Weiler; William A. Stout; Dudley R. Dobie, Jr.

[57] ABSTRACT A self-contained voice amplification headgear is disclosedwhich includes a housing arranged to be secured around the head, hat orhelmet of the user and around and on objects by an adjustable headband,or molded, adhered to or otherwise externally secured to the hat orhelmet without their modification, a speaker is carried by the housingand a microphone arm carrying a microphone is pivotally connected to thehousing and operable to swing the microphone to' a downward position infront of the mouth of the user, and up away from the mouth of the userto an out-ofthe-way position. Preferably, the speaker is facing in thesame direction as the user is facing. An on-off switch is provided andis operable to connect an electrical power source to an amplifiercircuit carried by the housing when the microphone arm is in thedownward position and to disconnect them when in the outof-the-wayposition. An auxiliary on-off switch, volume control and connection fora recharger may be provided and carried by the housing.

6 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures PATENTEDJUN 1 7 I975 13; 8 90 475 SHEET 1SELF-CONTAINED VOICE AMPLIFICATION HEADGEAR BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONLabor costs are an ever-increasing and major compo nent in every productor service. Accordingly, it is highly desirable, if not necessary, toobtain as much utilization of labor as reasonably possible. Much labortime, and hence money, is lost because of poor communication systemsbetween foremen, group chiefs or leaders, superintendents, engineers,architects, and management prople and laborv This is particularly truein the construction industry, and primarily with safety hard-hat typepeople in that the directions and instructions are given orally withoutamplification and in view of the distances or noise or both, it isnecessary or desirable for the person or persons giving the directionsand instructions to go to the workers or each group of workers to givethem such instructions. This requires a considerable amount of timewhich, in effect, is lost time and creates production stoppages whenthese persons must move about to convey necessary instructions andcommunications. Also, much time is lost in workers stopping and gettingstarted again, which is very costly, caused by waiting on instructionsand directions.

The magnitude of the cost involved in labor loss of time due to poorcommunications may be gleaned from the fact that at the present time itis estimated there are approximately 30,000,000 blue-collar workers inthe United States of America, of that number about 12,000,000 to performtheir job function must by law wear a safety hat, and approximately6,000,000 are of a supervisory nature.

It has been established that better communications, through the manyuses of microwave, telephonic, and acoustical systems, have a directbearing on productivity of personnel, quality of product in service, andpersonnel relationships. While a number of speaker systems forheadpieces, helmets and hats have been proposed in the past, forexample, systems such as disclosed in US. Pat. Nos. 2,497,871;3,258,534; 3,347,229; 3,422,224; 3,549,831; and 3,629,552, most of thesespeaker systems require modification to or special headgear or helmets,are bulky and do not permit the user to be unencumbered and do notinclude an onoff switch which connects the power source to the amplifiercircuit when the microphone arm is swung downwardly to position themicrophone in front of the mouth of the user, and disconnects the powersource from the amplifier circuit when the microphone arm is movedupwardly to position the microphone away from the mouth and face of theuser into an oubof-the-way position. In addition, some of these haveinternal mountings and parts between the crown and head, which is unsafeand do not qualify under present OSHSA laws for safety hats. In anyevent, none of these amplification systems are presently marketed or inuse in the construction of hard-hat industry in the United States ofAmerica.

SUMMARY The present invention is directed to self-contained voiceamplification headgear which overcomes the disadvantages and obj ctionsof prior art hat, helmet or headgear amplification systems, by providinga housing and an adjustable headband by which it can be secured directlyaround the head of the user or externally to hard hats, helmets andother headgear without modification and to other objects, and whichincludes an onoff switch incorporated into a microphone arm pivotallycarried by the housing and arranged so that when the arm is swung to adownward position to bring the microphone before the mouth of the user,an electrical power source is connected to an amplification system, bothcarried by the housing, and when the microphone arm is raised to raisethe microphone from before the mouth and face of the user to anout-of-the-way position, the electrical power source is disconnectedfrom the amplifier circuit.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide aself-contained voice amplification headgear which can be strapped aroundthe head of the user or to the users hard hat, helmet or other headgearor otherwise externally secured to them without any modification inthem.

A further object of the present invention is the provision of such aself-contained voice amplification headgear which includes an on-offswitch operable by a microphone arm pivotally carried by the housingportion of the adjustable headband, which arm is arranged to swing downto bring the microphone before the mouth of the user and which switchconnects the electrical power source with the amplifier circuit, andoperable to disconnect them when the microphone arm is raised to raisethe microphone from before the mouth and face of the user to anout-of-the-way position.

A further object of the present invention is the provision of such aself-contained voice amplification headgear which may be utilized toprovide necessary or desirable instructions where distance'presents aproblem to efficient and fast communication, and where noise, machineryor environment, presents an obstacle to efficient and fastcommunication.

Still a further object of the present invention is the provision of sucha self-contained voice amplification system which leaves the usercompletely unencumbered so as not to interfere with the performance ofhis job function.

A further object of the present invention is the provision of aself-contained voice amplification headgear which is relativelyinexpensive, may readily and easily be attached or secured to the headof the user, or to hard hats, helmets and the like without anymodification or change to them, and which can be turned on simply bybringing the microphone arm to a downward position to bring themicrophone in front of the mouth of the user and turned off by movingthe arm and the microphone to an out-of-the-way position.

Other and further objects, features and advantages of the invention willbe apparent from the following description of a preferred embodimentthereof, the abstract of the disclosure, the background of theinvention, this summary, the drawing and the appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a perspective view of aselfcontained voice amplification headgear according to the inventionshown attached to a hard hat worn by the user,

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the same,

FIG. 3 is a circuit diagram illustrating the amplifier circuit,

FIG. 4 is a detail view of the pivot, and

FIG. 5 is a schematic view illustrating a recharger for the electricalpower source.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to FIG. 1, aself-contained voice amplification headgear is illustrated whichincludes a body portion generally in the shape ofa headband comprised ofan enlarged forward position which serves as the housing for the voiceamplification headgear to which is attached the headband straps 12 whichare adjustable to fit about the head or hard hat 14 shown here, as wellas other typical hats, helmets and objects, not shown. Preferably, thehousing 10 is made of a lightweight waterproof material, such a plastic,and the headband straps 12 are preferably made of a lightweightmaterial, such as plastic as used in safety hats in the constructionindustry. If desired, the housing 10 may be molded, adhered to by anadhesive or otherwise externally secured to the hat without modifyingthe hat, and without use of the headband straps 12, if desired, so thatthe housing is carried by the hat.

A speaker 16 is disposed at the enlarged forward portion of the housing10 which also carries the amplifier 18, the electrical power source,here shown as the batteries 20, to power the system, a battery rechargerjack 22, and the combined volume control and secondary on-off switch 24.Preferably, the speaker 16 faces in the direction of the user, as doesthe microphone 27, to provide best results in communicatinginstructions, directions, and the like.

A microphone arm 25 is pivotally secured to the housing 10 by the pivotconnections 26, which microphone arm 25 adjustably carries at its endthe microphone 27. The arm 25 is shown as supporting the microphone 27from both sides. If desired, the arm 25 may pivotally extend from oneside of the housing 10 to the microphone 27 and the other side of thearm and its pivot connection 26 omitted. Advantageously, the pivotconnection 26 includes an on-off switch 29 (see FIG. 2) so that when themicrophone arm 25 is in an upward and out-of-the-way position, theelectrical power source is disconnected from the amplifier 18, and whenthe microphone arm is swung to a downward position so that themicrophone 27 is in front of the mouth of the user, the electrical powersource 20 is connected to the amplifier 22. Advantageously, this permitsconnecting and disconnecting the electrical power source 20 to and fromthe amplifier 22 automatically by moving the microphone arm 25 to thedownward position for use and by moving the microphone arm 25 to theout-of-the-way position for non-use, leaving the user completelyunencumbered insofar as the voice amplification headgear is concerned.

The microphone arm 25 is outwardly bowed, as illustrated, so that itclears the brim of the hard hat 14 and can be swung into the downwardposition for use and into the out-of-the-way position when not in use.

Referring now to FIG. 2, which generally depicts the amplifier l8 andshows its interconnection to the electrical power source 20, it is to benoted that the circuitry includes two on-and-off switches, 24 and 29, inseries. The combined volume control potentiometer and on-and-off switch24 is mounted on the housing 10 in such a manner that it may be readilyreached for manipulation by the user. The other on-and-off switch 29 isarranged in the pivot connection 26 such that the switch is on when themicrophone arm 25 is pivoted downwardly, as previously noted. Ifdesired, the electrical power source 20 may consist of rechargeablebatteries, and if this is done, then a recharger jack 22 is 5 provided,also mounted in the housing 10. The amplifier 18 generally consists of apreamplifier stage 30 whose input comes from the volume control 24 andmicrophone 27. The output of the preamplifier stage 30 mayadvantageously be fed to the conventional power amplifier stages in apush-pull arrangement which includes transistors Q1, Q2, Q3 and Q4. Theoutput of a transistor amplifier circuitry is fed to the speaker 16. Ifdesired, a feedback control circuit 32 may be included, as well asbalancing potentiometers 34 and 36. Other conventional amplifiercircuitry may be substituted for that shown as the amplifier 18.

Referring now to FIG. 3, the recharger 38 is generally depicted and thisincludes a power plug 40 along with an output plug 42 which is designedto interconnect with the recharger jack 22. The recharger isconventional and includes elements to convert line current to therequired lowered voltage direct current. If desired, and assuming thatthe user does not require great mobility, for example, when hung orstrapped around an object, the recharger may be connected to theamplifier even when the present invention is in use so that theamplifier 18 operates off of the usual line current instead of thebatteries.

The self-contained voice amplification headgear can be powered toamplify the voice up to most desired distances, such as 50, 100 or moreyards.

Since the self-contained voice amplification headgear is adjustable asto size, it may readily be fitted over any hat, helmet or otherheadgear, may be worn around the head without a hat, molded to oradhered to a hat by a suitable adhesive or otherwise secured externallyto the hat. Also, if desired,.the headgear amplifier may be strappedaround or hung on posts and other objects and used in that manner whennot being worn by the user when using straps, such as indicated by thereference numeral 12.

Accordingly, the self-contained voice amplification headgear of thepresent invention is well adapted and suited to attain the objects andends and has the advantages mentioned as well as others inherenttherein.

While a presently-preferred embodiment of the invention has been givenfor the purpose of disclosure, changes may be made which are within thespirit of the invention as defined by the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A self-contained voice amplification headgear comprising,

a housing arranged to be carried externally by the head, hat or helmetof the user,

a speaker carried by the housing,

an amplifier electrically connected to the speaker carried by thehousing,

an electrical power source carried by the housing,

a microphone arm pivotally connected to the housing,

a microphone electrically connected to the amplifier and carried by themicrophone arm,

the microphone arm operable to swing the microphone to a downwardposition in front of the mouth of the user and upwardly and away fromthe mouth and face of the user into an out-of-the-way position, and anon-off switch operable to connect the electrical power source to theamplifier when the microphone arm is in the downward position andoperable to disconnect the electrical power source from the amplifierwhen the microphone arm is in the out-of-the-way position. 2. Theself-contained voice amplification headgear of claim 1, including,

an adjustable headband arranged to extend around the head, hat or helmetof the user, the housing forming part of the headband. 3. Theself-contained voice amplification headgear of claim 1 where,

the electrical power source is a rechargeable power source. and includesa connection carried by the housing for an electrical recharger.

4. The self-contained voice amplification headgear of claim 3,including,

a volume control carried by the housing operable to control the volumeof the speaker. 5. The self-contained voice amplification headgear ofclaim 1, including,

an auxiliary on-and-off switch carried by the housing operable toconnect and to disconnect the electrical power source to and from theamplifier circuit. 6. The self-contained voice amplification headgear ofclaim 1 where,

the electrical power source is a rechargeable power source, and includesa connection carried by the housing for an electrical recharger of theelectrical power source, and an auxiliary on-and-off switch carried bythe housing connecting and disconnecting the electrical power source toand from the amplifier circuit.

1. A self-contained voice amplification headgear comprising, a housingarranged to be carried externally by the head, hat or helmet of theuser, a speaker carried by the housing, an amplifier electricallyconnected to the speaker carried by the housing, an electrical powersource carried by the housing, a microphone arm pivotally connected tothe housing, a microphone electrically connected to the amplifier andcarried by the microphone arm, the microphone arm operable to swing themicrophone to a downward position in front of the mouth of the user andupwardly and away from the mouth and face of the user into anout-of-the-way position, and an on-off switch operable to connect theelectrical power source to the amplifier when the microphone arm is inthe downward position and operable to disconnect the electrical powersource from the amplifier when the microphone arm is in theout-ofthe-way position.
 2. The self-contained voice amplificationheadgear of claim 1, including, an adjustable headband arranged toextend around the head, hat or helmet of the user, the housing formingpart of the headband.
 3. The self-contained voice amplification headgearof claim 1 where, the electrical power source is a rechargeable powersource, and includes a connection carried by the housing for anelectrical recharger.
 4. The self-contained voice amplification headgearof claim 3, including, a volume control carried by the housing operableto control the volume of the speaker.
 5. The self-contained voiceamplification headgear of claim 1, including, an auxiliary on-and-offswitch carried by the housing operable to connect and to disconnect theelectrical power source to and from the amplifier circuit.
 6. Theself-contained voice amplification headgear of claim 1 where, theelectrical power source is a rechargeable power source, and includes aconnection carried by the housing for an electrical recharger of theelectrical power source, and an auxiliary on-and-off switch carried bythe housing connecting and disconnecting the electrical power Source toand from the amplifier circuit.